Mobile broadband data is king to telcos

The amount of data generated by business technology systems, digital cameras and mobile phones has grown over the past several years. The growing trend towards mobile data and mobile broadband in Africa is being pushed by consumers who are constantly snapping photos, accessing the Internet, and sending email on their smartphones. On the other side enterprises are giving the broadband platform a pull as they seek business analysis information from the market. Participants at the ongoing Capacity Africa 2011 conference at Nairobi's Intercontinental hotel had mixed reactions as to the capacity of African telecom operators to handle the data growth on their networks.